Friday, March 23, 2012

OUR STUCCO JOB IS COMPLETE…TOMORROW WE BEGIN WATERING……

It’s not everyone who gets to wake up each morning with a face full of dog Slurpies….but I do. Soon as I begin to stir, Pheebs bounds up on top of my bed & if I don’t get my head under the blankets I am immediately smothered in doggy smooches. We have ourselves a big snuggle followed by play time. Happens every single morning….and I love it:))

As the house mud dried it turned from a dark army green to a battleship gray. The guys finished the primer stucco coat all across the back by late morning & then began at the beginning again putting on the final textured coat. Very labor intensive & it made me tired just watching them. Doby, who is over 50 has been doing this for about 30 years & it’s a wonder his arms aren’t worn out. We found out early he is a very well respected fellow in these parts & does good work. I feel we were very fortunate with our timing to get him to do our house job this week. He will be returning next Wednesday to paint the house.

BASE COAT IS ABOUT THREE QUARTERS DONE

COMING DOWN THE HOME STRETCH

The color we have chosen for the house is ‘Colorado Trail.’ It’s a vibrant bright orange………ok, ok, just pulling your leg. It is a darker brown because we want the house to blend naturally into the background scenery. My plan is to surround this house with greenery just as we have done in Bayfield. Want the earth tone house color to blend in with nature’s greenery. Think we will be planting a lot of OLEANDER & BOUGAINVILLEA around the property.

HOUSE IS IN DESPERATE NEED OF A GOOD CLEANING

It was another trip to Wickenburg this afternoon & a lot of time was spent at the Bank of America arranging to have monies wired from Canada to the States. Since 911 it is a tedious time consuming procedure with ID’s to be double & triple checked & of course, the proverbial mound of paper work. With all the money matters completed we were off down the street to the ‘Treasure Chest’ where Kelly had spotted a wooden cabinet type small dresser she liked. Also picked up an old painting with an original frame for cheap. We intend on doing this house in an old western & southwestern style.

PHEEBS & MOTOR CHECK OUT TODAY’S SALE ITEMS

Still wrestling with the kitchen colors & I did end up repainting one of the kitchen walls in a desert sand color. That Aloha Sunset we put on the walls is just looking a little too pinky for us. Because ideas keep changing I didn’t paint any of the cupboards today. Maybe tomorrow I will have another color inspiration & get the paint flying again. Have to admit, my patience is wearing a little thin with all these back & forth color changes.

CHANGED THAT END KITCHEN WALL COLOR THIS MORNING…STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE CUPBOARD DOORS

The green dining room you see in the photo above will also change color. Plan to do that in Desert Sand, just like the end kitchen wall. Finishing these two rooms is my goal before we return to Canada. In the Fall I will repaint the big blue room at the north end of the house.

KELLY’S $10 LAMP WITH SOME REAL LIVE KELLYISMS ON IT

Although the official closing date is scheduled for this coming Tuesday, the house is basically ours now with our transfer of funds today. Of course we have been treating it as ours all along but we will be relieved to officially get the closing date behind us next week.

DOBY HAS BEEN AT THIS A LONG TIME >>>

Stopped for a couple Sceamerburgs at Screamers in Wickenburg this afternoon before hightailing it back to Congress.

SCREAMERS FOR BURGS

The boys were coming down the homestretch with the stucco texturing & by 3:30 this afternoon they were all finished. The stucco job on the house was done:)) Maybe I can concentrate on some photos other than house pics now. Yaaaaay.

THE GUYS JUST HAVE A FEW FEET TO GO BEFORE THE ENTIRE STUCCO JOB IS FINALLY COMPLETE

Our job this week-end will be to water all the stucco down 3 times a day both Saturday & Sunday. Painting will start Wednesday after the big hot Arizona sun & warming winds have dried the stucco.

THIS IS THE UNPAINTED TEXTURED FINISH

More improvements for little Motor & I’d say she is back to her normal barking & hungry self except of course for her food pickiness. She does seem to like poached chicken though & that is encouraging. She nearly threw me out of my chair tonight trying to get at some mild Italian sausage on my plate.

STUCCO HAS DRIED TO A BATTLESHIP GRAY COLOR…LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING SOME DARKER PAINT ON IT

Chinle over at SPOTTED DOG RANCH just got herself a little white Burro. Plans on doing a little prospecting with her. Kind of a darn cute little thing she is too:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A Sunday school teacher said to her children, 'We have been learning how powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But, there is a Higher Power. Can anybody tell me what it is?' One child blurted out, 'Aces!'

What, no music list today? I was getting into that, I even downloaded a bunch of Sons of the Pioneers and other tunes you mentioned. Stuff I used to have back in the good old days of discs and cassettes and such (I won't mention 8 tracks and give my age away). :)

How soon will you be leaving AZ for Canada? What route will you take? The house is looking great and glad the Mouse is better. She's so cute - and Inspector Pheebs looks like she's keeping a close eye on everything.

Like the idea of a Western theme. Wish I could get some of my rustic authentic old-time Colorado cowboy furniture down to you, it won't ride so good in my burro.

The house is looking great Al, and you will never look back on a cold night as they help insulate the cold out.Are you going to try for dual citizenship like Kelly has.Couldn't miss the stars and stripes on the mantle.Love to have you as a fellow American. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Like that wall lots after the color change...and your house color sounds perfect to bend in with the terrain...Are you going to plant some Mesquite trees??..Our uncle has a cool fountain shapes like a cactus in his yard in Illinois...but they used to own a home in Sedona..and still love Arizona...

Was touched by the American flags when we visited--you've always expressed your love for this country in your blog, especially the SW ;-) The beauty of your place is that it will always be a blank canvas for you. You mind must be dizzy with ideas!

What I like about neutrals (desert sand)on the walls is that you can add all the colors in accessories,dishes, rugs, pillows, etc. I do like the colorful cabinets! Your Southwest home is looking great!

AL'S CAMERA EQUIPMENT

A sometimes asked question readers have about my blog is what kind of a camera do I use. Well I have 8 of them and use them all. Five Nikon DSLR's, two quality Sony point and shoots plus one older Canon point and shoot.

'UPDATE':: July 2017 Thanks to a very generous blog reader I have been able to update my Nikon camera equipment and supplement my camera gear with a couple additional fine Sony cameras as well.I now have a 'donated' Nikon D7200 sporting my new Nikkor 18-300 3.5 zoom lens. Also have picked up a new Nikkor 1.8 primary 35mm lens. In addition I also now have a Sony RX100-3 camera as well as a Sony Exmore Cybershot. I have given my Canon Powershot point and shoot camera to a neighbor.

- In early 2017 I replaced my Nikon D-90 camera with a new D-3400 after the 'auto focus' feature on my aging D-90 quit working. The Nikon D-90 had been my work horse camera sporting a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. I used this camera for most of my landscapes and I now have it set up for night photography where 'auto focus' is not necessary.

-My older faithful and favorite Nikon D-40 finally packed it in during the summer of 2015 and I replaced it with a new Nikon D-3100.

- Previous to my Nikon D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome death when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not. My Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D-90 the D-3100 and the D-3400.